Young Dudes
by MoonLLotus
Summary: Sora liked to call Roxas a 'square', he was vanilla with a touch of OCD. Until the blonde met a redhead at a mutual friends party. Axel was everything he wasn't: daring, reckless, charming, bold, and easy to fall in love with. - AkuRoku
1. A Well Respected Man

Title:** Young Dudes**

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I no own

Summary: AU. As he began to drive I prayed that this night wouldn't be a waste of time. That something would come out of it, _at least a phone number_, I thought while giving Axel a side glance.- Main Akuroku. Background Soriku. All characters will be a bit OOC.

Unbeta'd. Beware the errors!

* * *

"Blah" means talking

"**Blah**" means phone conversations/texts

* * *

**I. **_**A Well Respected Man**_- The Kinks

* * *

Paperwork, that's what my life had been reduced to, nothing but endless paperwork. To say I loathed it would the understatement of the millennia. I had the urge to jump out of the sixth story window, breaking through the glass and falling to my sweet death; it was very tempting. Luckily it was a Saturday, the last day of a work week for me and then I got the weekend to do whatever the hell I wanted. One whole day of freedom. I lived for Sunday.

"I don't get you Roxas," the guy a cubicle over, by the name of Xigbar, said. He was spinning in his wheelie chair while moving his pen to look like it was made of rubber. "You're twenty-two but you act like you're already hitting your midlife crisis."

"I don't get _you _Xigbar; you get poked in the eye once with a staple and now insist on wearing an eye patch every day to work. Are you pretending to be a pirate?" I asked, saving the last document I had and logging off of my computer.

Xigbar spun in an even faster circle, "you wound me Roxas."

My cubicles' old cord phone began to ring; willing myself not to strangle the person on the other end of the line, I picked up, "this is Roxas Strife; how may I be of assistance for you today?"

"**You're such a yuppie**," my cousin, Sora, laughed.

"I'm working Sor, what do you want?" I huffed, doodling a picture of me killing Xigbar with a spork on my pad of paper.

"**We're going to a party tonight, no arguments, I don't wanna hear it**," Sora said; I could hear the TV on in the background along with his dogs yipping.

"Where at?" I asked suspiciously, I turned around to look over at Xigbar, he was still spinning.

"**Wakka's place, where else? Selphie's throwing it. You know it's gonna be fucking sweet**," he answered easily, and by his tone I could tell there was a smile on his face.

"Fine, I'll go. Are you going to pick me up or am I the D.D tonight?" I asked, coloring in my doodle.

"**Riku's driving**," Sora said. "**And don't start. He's not that bad**."

"That guy's a dick," I muttered into the phone. "You're only saying that because he blows you."

"**I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. See you around ten brah, bye-bye**!" He hung up.

You may have guessed by now that my name was Roxas. Roxas Strife, a twenty-two year old who takes online college classes and worked for Shinra Inc full time. I'm currently single, and I lived with my parents, Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart, they own a popular club downtown called Heaven. If you haven't heard of it then you've been living under a rock.

"Big party tonight, huh?" Xigbar grinned from his seat, "I remember being your age. Ah, the parties, the sloppy drunk sex, the horny stoner sex, and every food tasted better then."

I ignored him as I shut down my computer. "See you Monday Xigbar." I said to him, grabbing my satchel and getting out of my cubicle.

"Bye Roxas! Enjoy your horny stoner sex!" Xigbar waved.

* * *

I got home and noticed both of my parents' cars in the driveway. I may work a full time job but I'm still a broke college student all the way, trying to pay off my car while saving up for my own place wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Opening the door, I was greeted by the smell of food and the sound of the TV.

"Roxas!" My sixteen year old sister, Garnet, grinned at me from her spot on the couch. Next to her was her boyfriend Zidane, both had Wii controllers in their hands, Mariokart was on pause. "How was work?" She asked.

"Hell," I grumbled, undoing my tie and toeing off my shoes at the front door. I left my shoes where they were and moved through the front room going a large archway. The double doors to the immediate left were open, giving me a perfect view of my father working in the den, on the computer looking at the club's finances. "Hey Pops," I greeted.

"Hey Rox," Dad replied, pencil never stopping its movement on the paper.

Ahead of me was the open kitchen where my mother was dancing around to her docked iPod and cooking dinner.

"Hey baby," Mom greeted with a smile. "How was your day?"

"Long," I answered, running a hand through my hair and giving her a strained smile, "How about yours?"

"Oh mine's is just getting started," Mom grinned. "Dinner's going to be ready soon so go wash up."

I walked out of the kitchen and through a smaller archway to the left which had a tiny square of a hallway, three doors (one to the left, one to the right and one before me) as well as a linen closet. Opening the door to the right I entered my bedroom and began to strip out of my work clothes, grabbing a clean pair of boxer-briefs and my towel I went to the door next to the linen closet, entering the tiny bathroom to take a quick shower and thinking about ten o'clock.

My parents left around eight for their club and Zidane left as well, my folks had a rule about people being over when they weren't home. It didn't matter how old we were, and the fact that Zidane was Garnet's boyfriend didn't help him out one bit.

"I'm going to take a nap," I yawned to Garnet. She nodded mutely; too busy playing bejeweled on her iTouch to notice anything going on around her.

As soon as I sprawled out on top of my bed I was out.

It was the feeling of someone licking and breathing on me that caused me to wake up sometime later, only to literally jump off the bed when I realized someone _was_ licking and breathing on me.

Sora grinned from his perch on my bed, "'bout time you woke up, I've been trying to get your ass out of bed for like twenty minutes."

"Why didn't you just shake me?" I asked while rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"I did," my cousin stated, "I poked you, shook you, yelled and screamed. I figured doing some gay shit might wake you up. And it worked. You sure you're not hiding something from me Rox?"

"Fuck you Sora," I grumbled while looking for my shoes.

"No, that's Riku's job," He answered breezily.

"You're so gross," I groaned, slipping my feet into a pair of old black Chucks. "This party better be the shit man," I yawned.

"Oh yes, because your Saturday night plans were so exciting. Going to bed at eight and sleeping the entire night away, sounds like a barrel of fun," Sora hopped off of my bed. "Come on; let's go before Riku decides to come in here. I mean, three's a crowd sometimes and I'm not very good at sharing."

"You're fucking gross," I repeated.

Sora just shook his head and laughed, "No Rox, I'm fucking Riku. Get it right."

I put my wallet and phone in my pockets and followed Sora out of my room, rubbing my blurry eyes and frowning at Riku.

"'Bout time you two came out, I was beginning to wonder if there was some twincest going on," Riku grinned cockily, all white-blond hair, sea-green eyes, tanned skin and Adonis body. Sometimes his very existence annoyed me.

"We're cousins, and don't be fresh," Sora reprimanded.

The thing is, even though I had blond hair and Sora had brown, and I was pale and he was tanned, that was about as far of a difference as our looks went. We were nearly identical, which was creepy, that was how dominant our family genes were I supposed.

"You guys ready to leave right?" Riku asked while casually leaning against the counter. Garnet was in the kitchen as well, still on her iTouch.

"What time do you think you'll be back by Rox?" She asked.

"No idea, don't wait up for me," I told my younger sister.

"Have fun!" Garnet called out behind us as we left.

* * *

Wakka lived in a decent sized house inherited from his mother and it was right on the beach front. Selphie was the one throwing the party, and the girl knew exactly what she was doing whenever she felt like having one. She was Wakka's on-again off-again mistress of a girlfriend since he was currently engaged to this chick named Lulu.

"Lulu's okay with Selphie throwing this party for Wakka?" I asked suddenly as Riku parked his car on the beach where there were dozens of others.

"I heard she was out of town," Sora grinned. We all knew that he lived for this kind of gossip. We also all knew that when Lulu found out the shit was going to hit the fan. However, that wasn't our problem and thus we didn't need to worry about it.

It was just ten minutes shy of midnight when we arrived and people were already drunk.

"Sora! Roxas! Riku!" Kairi, Sora's ex-girlfriend, smiled sloppily at the three of us as she threw herself on top of Sora in a sort-of hug. "You guys made it, that's awesome!" Her auburn red hair was everywhere and her smile was a bit glazed over, she was drunk.

"Hey Kairi, let's go get you some water," Tidus, her boyfriend, smiled awkwardly at us as he untangled Kairi from Sora. "Hey guys. Selphie's around here somewhere. There's beer in the cooler in the back porch, the harder stuff's in the kitchen, and I think they're sharing a bong or something in the den."

Tidus was gone before we knew it.

"Well, this seemed fun, I'm ready to go back home now," I told my cousin.

Sora frowned at me, "Stop being such a little bitch. We're staying; you're not ruining my fun." He grabbed Riku's hand and dragged him towards the kitchen. I was going to follow but the crowd separated us and by the time I made it to the kitchen my cousin and his boyfriend were nowhere in sight.

Well this is just great, I lost my ride.

"Dude! Roxassss! You made it man, that's awesome," a blur of blond tackled me and draped off of my shoulders. Bright blue eyes and happy grin pasted on their face.

"Hey Demyx," I greeted, shifting under his weight, "Where's Zexion?"

"Pfft, that jerk off? Probably fucking some random slut upstairs. Who cares about Zexion? I'm here with Axel," Demyx slurred slightly. He was obviously upset, and it was Zexion's fault. Although, to be fair, his best friend had no clue of Demyx's affections, and the blond would probably never tell him.

"That's nice Demyx. Have you seen Sora or Riku?" I asked, trying to get him off of me with no luck.

"No. But you gotta meet Axel man, he's awesome," Demyx began to drag me by the scruff of my neck towards the front door.

"Damn it Dem," I sighed and allowed myself to get dragged through throngs of people. If anything I had my cell phone and knew where the car was. When Sora was done with his 'fun' he'd let me know.

On the front porch was a guy sitting on the stairs smoking a cigarette, he had a flame of bottled red hair and a lanky body type from the back.

"Axel, dude, this is Roxas, and he's awesome." Demyx muttered happily, it seemed as if he were trying really hard not to cry, the forced smile looked painful. I made a mental note that Dem was an emotional drunk and to never go drinking with him. Ever.

Axel turned and looked up at me, and even in the dim light from the house I could see his bright green eyes perfectly on his narrow face, along with the two black tattoos of upside-down tear drops on each of his high cheekbones. He looked a bit like a clown, or a mental ward patient on the loose.

We eyed each other up and I could already feel the waves of dislike rolling off of him towards me.

"Demyx," Axel took a drag of his cigarette, "I didn't tell ya ta bring Roxas out here. I told ya ta go and find Zexion, go and talk ta Zexion."

Our blond friend looked teary eyed, "But what if he's busy with someone?"

"Then go and make a scene. Don't stop 'til he listens ta what ya have ta say," The redhead said this as if it were the easiest thing in the world. And maybe to an inebriated Demyx it was, because he ran back into the house and heart of the party.

"Jesus Christ, that guy's been crying for over an hour, and he started before he was drunk." Axel stated, though whether it was to me or himself I wasn't sure so I just shrugged and plopped down next to him, watching the ocean.

We sat in silence for a good ten minutes before. The music from inside the house caused the porch to vibrate, and I could hear people screaming to each other about things. Out on the beach couples were making out on random cars, or people were still pulling up. I sighed as I stared up at the clear night sky.

"So, how ya likin' the parteh?" Axel asked; he had a southern twang to his voice which I hadn't noticed before. It was thick but not heavy, pleasant for the ears; although it was a bit nasally, but not annoyingly so.

"Honestly? I don't want to be here man. I'd rather be at home and asleep in my bed," I answered, for once not caring if that made me sound like a loser or a 'square' as Sora tended to call me at times.

Axel snickered. "Why? Ya worked taday?"

I leaned back on my step, "Yeah, I've been up since six and only managed a short nap before being abducted and taken here. I could care less about the drinking, smoking, and all that other bullshit. And the drama going on in there, none of it's my scene."

A moment later Demyx came back, a beer in hand, "I need a ride home man," he said to Axel, "I wanna get outta here, like now. Before Zexion notices."

Cigarette still in mouth, Axel stood up and glanced down at me, "Ya wanna come with?"

"I don't even know you dude, you could be some psychotic serial killer who's into blonds," I said while looking up at him. He had very long legs.

"You're right, I could be," He grinned wickedly, "But ya said that ya didn't wanna be here, and beggars can't be choosers. This can be your escape; I'll even drop ya back off here after we're done with Demyx."

Demyx had already stumbled towards where I assumed Axels' car was. I didn't want a drunken Demyx going off with someone I barely knew, so I pulled my phone out and sent Sora a quick text. **I'm out; call me when you get home**. Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I half jogged to catch up with the other two, both were way ahead of me.

"So you comin' with then?" Axel asked, smirk on his face as he unlocked the doors. I watched as he helped Demyx get in the back seat before slipping into the drivers side.

"Blast off!" Demyx cried from the backseat as we sped off towards his place.

* * *

Demyx lived in a crappy building that had dingy, buzzing, flickering, florescent lights in the hallways that led to the apartments. His place was a tiny two bedroom, but it was kept clean.

"Thanks for the ride man," He hugged Axel and then hugged me afterwards, "I love you guys."

"Ya ain't gonna do nothin' stupid are ya Dem?" The redhead asked, giving our wobbly friend a sharp look.

Double negative, I had wanted to say but held my tongue.

"Nah, just gonna sleep," Demyx sighed. "Whelp, night all." He went inside his apartment, leaving the door wide open as he threw himself on the couch. He was out as soon as his body hit the cushions.

Sighing, Axel took out his keys and locked up the door as we left.

"You have his spare?" I asked, eyeing it suspiciously.

"Course, I've known the guy since forever," He shrugged, "Ya feel bad about leaving him there like that?"

"Not really, I have a clear conscious," I answered.

"A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory," He looked down at me.

I snorted, "Obnoxious much?"

"Not as much as I should be," He grinned, "Come on, let's go."

We were back on the road and driving through the bright city, there were people milling about everywhere, and with the lights it felt more like daytime then one in the morning.

"Dude, where the hell are we going? You needed to go down South Street," I turned my head to watch as we zoomed passed our street that would've led to the beach.

"Hm? Sorry, I was lost in thought," He said, stopping at the red light.

"Unfamiliar territory?" I smirked.

He chuckled, "Ya think you're so smart, huh? Don't piss me off Roxas, I'm running outta places to hide the bodies," He made a left. "We're gonna go see a psychic."

"There's one open past midnight?" I arched an eyebrow at him, knowing that I should've been scared shitless that this random guy was taking me to a strange place, but instead I was just curious. Also, I was vaguely wondering if this was going to be the night where the cops found my body in a ditch after my parents noticed I hadn't returned home.

"A psychic that's expectin' us is," He wagged his eyebrows at me. They, too, were dyed red. I idly wondered what color his happy trail was.

* * *

We parked in front of a brownstone apartment, one in a row of many, the only thing that even let me know it was a psychic's places was the illuminated purple sign that said so in the downstairs window.

"Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?" I asked nervously, following Axel up the walkway and stoop. "I mean, they're supposedly psychic, right?"

"If this chick asks us for our names then we leave," He told me.

"Have you been here before?" I looked around the neighborhood; it was pretty quiet for a Saturday night.

The redhead shook his head, "Nah, but I've heard good things about her." He rang the buzzer.

A moment later a petite blonde young woman answered the door, bright blue eyes sparkling with warmth as she smiled at us. "Hello boys, I've been waiting for you two all night. You're a bit later then I expected, come on in." She held the door open for us to walk through and closed it behind her. She was wearing a bright white sundress and pink bunny slippers.

The apartment was brightly lit and had antique furniture, reminding me of my grandmother's house. It smelled of Pine-Sol and laundry detergent. And somewhere in the house there was a radio playing old jazz.

"My name is Naminé," She introduced herself as we walked into the living room; the couches were covered in plastic. She sat down on the love seat and left the other for Axel and me, motioning for us to sit as well. "Would you like me to tell your fortunes separately or together?" She asked, the kind smile never leaving her face.

"First, you gotta tell us our names," Axel eyed her curiously.

She gave a small laugh, "You're Axel and he's Roxas." Her eyes were on us but they seemed to look past us. "Tonight you two should remain together, remember this because it will be important." She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, "Are there any real questions you'd like to ask? Something that doesn't include the winning lotto numbers, please."

Axel looked at me and then glanced over at Naminé, "I'd like ta do this separately," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, I'll be outside," I huffed, getting up and leaving the apartment.

"Check your phone messages Roxas; someone has been trying to reach you!" Naminé called out behind me as I closed the front door.

I took out my phone and found a few missed calls from Sora as well as a text message. Creepy I slid my phone up and checked the text.

**Where the hell are you!**

I frowned and replied quickly: **With Axel. Lemme alone, I'll call you once I get home**.

Axel came back out not ten seconds after I put my phone away. "Sorry 'bout that, I needed ta ask her somethin' personal."

"Right. Dude, can we just go back to Wakka's now?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"Actually, I was wonderin', you hungry?" He asked, taking out another cigarette and lighting it as we got into the car.

"A little," I admitted. "Are you going to buy me a meal to make up for this sidetrack adventure?"

He smiled at me and my heart skipped a beat. His smile was nothing but perfectly straight white teeth, and it looked really good on his face. "Yeah, actually. I know a good diner close by."

I nodded; there was no harm in going with this guy to a perfectly lit up place, right? And I _was _a little hungry. "Okay, let's mosey."

We went back to the car and left Naminé's place. As he began to drive I prayed that this night wouldn't be a waste of time. That something would come out of it, _at least a phone number_, I thought while giving Axel a side glance.

* * *

**TBC**

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* * *

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**MoonLLotus**: _Rule 1_: **never** leave a place with a person that you don't know kids (i.e strangers) . It's stupidly dangerous.

_Rule 2_: I find Southern twangs undeniably sexy. It's not exactly a rule, but it's my opinion. But that's why Axel has one. Is it obvious that Roxas is slightly smitten?

On a side note, if someone recognizes this fic, that's because I had it posted like a year ago. I revamped it as best as I could and have now reposted it. Hooray. This chapter isn't exactly how I wanted it. I wanted it to be funnier, but I'm not a funny person, oh wells. Anyways, please review, flames are more than welcome.


	2. A Dustland Fairytale

Title:** Young Dudes**

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I no own

Summary: AU. Axel and Roxas were here. It was the best night of our lives!.- Main Akuroku. Background Soriku. All characters will be a bit OOC.

Unbeta'd. Beware the errors!

* * *

"Blah" means talking

"**Blah**" means phone conversations

* * *

**II. **_**A Dustland Fairytale – **_The Killers

* * *

The diner was a classic Art Deco diner car restaurant; there were no tables or booths, only a single bar which ran through the entire place. Everything was silver chrome and bright reds, and despite the fact that the place had probably been around since the late 1930s everything still sparkled like new. There was a record player behind the register that was playing Big Band music.

The employees were dressed in 1940s styled clothing, the men wearing button up white shirts with red bowties, the women wearing collared and pressed red dresses with their hair styled in old-fashioned up-dos, and everyone was wearing an apron. The smell of grease, salt, and baked goods wafted heavily in the air.

There were a few people at the bar, but it wasn't as crowded as I'd have expected it to be, then again the clubs hadn't let out yet. By three in the morning this place was probably packed. And the fact that there was an Open 24 Hours sign lit near the door probably only added to business.

Axel went to the very end of the bar on the right hand side, sitting in one of the stools and motioning for me to do the same. I frowned at him and hopped onto the cushiony stool, swiveling the seat from side to side while reading the menu that was up above the stoves.

"Try the burgers, they're easily the best on the entire east coast," Axel drawled, grinning as a young waitress came up to us.

"Axel Pinheiro! I haven't seen you in months, where've you been?" She asked with a slight Eastern accent, large brown eyes scanning Axel over before moving to me. "Is he the one that stole you away from me? Hmm, but he _is_ a cutie." She began to smooth her dress over and move her short, flapper styled, hair out of her face.

I fought back a blush, "Thank you."

"Yuffie, he ain't the reason I ain't been here," Axel grinned. "We ain't together neither, and stop frettin' around like that, neither of us are interested tanight. Besides, I don't think your fiancé would appreciate your shameless flirtin'."

Yuffie laughed, "Squall doesn't have to know," she winked, a wide grin on her face. "What'll you boys be drinking tonight?"

"Cherry Coke," Axel answered, they both looked to me.

"Dr. Pepper please," I shifted around in my seat.

Yuffie beamed at me, "He has such nice manners! Awe, he's _so_ cute!" She bounced off to the soda fountain machine.

"I'm guessing you come here often?" I asked Axel once Yuffie was out of hearing range. She made me uncomfortable.

Axel smiled at me, "If I didn't know any better I'd say that was a come on. But yeah, I used ta come here almost all the time with my ex."

"Your ex? Is she why you haven't been here in months?" I asked, swiveling so that I could look him in the face without too much a hassle.

Green eyes peered at me and mouth puckered as he nodded, thinking about what he was going to say, "She was a psychotic bitch, we weren't good for each other. Let's just say that she's one of those people who're only still alive because it's illegal to murder."

The bell above the diner's door jingled, indicating that someone else had just entered the restaurant.

"Holy shit! It's Axel!" A woman's voice boomed from the front of the diner. It had a demanding quality to it, and I swore the air sparked with some type of intensity.

Axel winced; green eyes narrowing. "Speak of the devil." He muttered, "If she says anythin' offensive ta ya jus' i'nore it, alright?"

I nodded, "Okay."

"Axel, it's been forever since any of us have seen you here," The woman's voice was right behind me, I looked over my shoulder at her.

She was thin and not as curvy as she looked like she should be, with bleached blonde hair slicked back and cold blue eyes narrowed at the two of us. A few feet behind her was a man with long hair that was such a light brown it looked almost to be pink, he had a worried expression on his face as he glanced between Axel, myself, and this woman.

"Larxene, long time no see, how ya been?" Axel smirked, and had it not been the fact that his eyes had hardened I would've thought it was casual. "And you're still draggin' poor Marluxia 'round everywhere ya go? How ya doin' Marly?"

The man gave Axel a shaky smile, "I'm doing well, thank you Axel, and yourself?" He asked politely, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Marluxia was obviously nervous about the interaction going on between Axel and Larxene. He was probably wondering what he'd do if things got ugly between them.

"Good actually, real good," Axel smiled pleasantly at him, completely ignoring Larxene.

She looked livid; face becoming flushed with anger and like she was about to open her mouth to say something had it not been for Yuffie reappearing with our drinks.

"One Cherry Coke, and one Dr. Pepper," She said cheerfully while placing them down. "Sorry that took so long, a guy down at the other side wanted a refill of coffee and he just wouldn't stop talking. Oh! Hi Larxene!"

Larxene and Yuffie stared each other down for a few minutes, until a one of the cooks called Yuffie down to the other side of the bar again. She sent Larxene one last frown before going back to work.

Axel's ex-girlfriend looked back to us, "So, this is the latest fuck? I always knew you had a thing for blonds'." She sneered at me.

I opened my mouth to retort when Axel interjected, "A lesson for you to learn Larxene: never miss a good chance to shut up."

Her mouth became a thin line and she glared harder.

Marluxia took that time to come into the conversation, "Come on Larx, we still have to meet the others." He gently took the woman by the elbow and led her back towards the exit, shooting us an apologetic look over his shoulder as they left. The bell above the door jingled and they were gone, Yuffie came back to our side of the bar.

"Here," she said as she placed two plates of apple pie before us, "On the house."

She was gone once again, leaving us to our own devices and warm apple pie. It literally seemed to melt as soon as it hit my tongue.

"Mmm," I moaned happily, it had to have been the best apple pie I've had in my entire life; and I was already forgetting about the bleach blonde bitch who had insulted me.

"Ya know," Axel started, "One thing that I learned from my experience with Larxene is that even though friends come and go enemies tend ta accumulate."

I choked on my piece of cake since I chose that exact time to swallow when a laugh came up. After a brief coughing fit, I glared at Axel and he merely shrugged while giving me a wolfish grin.

We left after we paid for our drinks, leaving Yuffie a large tip, and walked back towards Axel's car.

"So your last name's Pinheiro, what's its origin?" I asked curiously, stuffing my hands in my pockets. We had parked a block away from the diner since there wasn't any room in front of it. The night life was in full swing; people were milling about, laughing, talking, and heading towards the diner.

"Brazil," He answered with a shrug, "My parents are from there. But I grew up in Texas." Texas explained the accent, it was a little stereotypical, but I couldn't hear enough of it.

"So, you can speak Portuguese?" I looked up at him in awe, I only knew a little bit of Spanish and a tiny bit of French, English was my main language.

"É, na maior parte do tempo. E eu também te acho bonito.," He smiled at me charmingly.

I smiled back, thoroughly amazed and impressed, "What'd you just say?"

"I speak it for the most part, but I hate doin' so 'cause of my thick accent," He admitted. "Ya ready ta head back ta that party now?"

It was then that I realized that I didn't want to head back to Wakka's just yet. I wanted to know more about the enigma that was Axel Pinheiro. I wanted to know everything about him, like why he had those tattoos, and what was it like to grow up in Texas? Did he have siblings? How old was he? What was his natural hair color?

"Nah, isn't there anything else we could do instead? I mean, I don't really want to deal with anyone at that party," I answered helplessly.

He arched an eyebrow at me but nodded, "Sure, I know this epic Jazz club not too far from here. If you're into that, I mean we could do somethin' else."

The more we talked the more this felt like an impromptu date, I could feel my face heat up at the thought of it. At blind date that I hadn't known about, I wouldn't exactly put that past Sora. But it was Demyx who introduced us, and now I was only looking for something to make me be turned off by the man. It wasn't working out so well.

"So what's your last name?" Axel asked while unlocking the doors to his old '95 Toyota Corolla, something that he had obviously bought himself. Although it was in excellent condition and looked almost brand new.

"My last name's Strife, it's German," I stated as I opened my door and slide into the car, "I don't speak any other language other than English fluently."

"You sound sad about that," Axel observed, turning on the engine and somehow managing to get the car out of the tight parallel parking it was in.

"I am," I admitted.

* * *

Twilight Town was a hole in the wall jazz club.

The honky tonk was crowded with people dressed in all different styles of genre and ranged in age. Everything inside was in deep purples and velvety reds, the bar at the far right was a rich mahogany color with chic looking black stools, there were little round tables between the bar and the moderately sized stage that currently had a duo. The guy was a short, slightly round, with messy brown hair and dressed in an old jersey and baggy jeans; the girl was dressed in skinny jeans and an orange tank top, she was thin, with long, wavy, brown hair and large green eyes. She was singing Hide & Seek by Imogean Heap, a tribute song done in her own style. Her voice was smooth like honey and had just the right amount of rasp in it. She had me mentally singing along with her.

"Wow," I breathed, enjoying the ambiance and overall atmosphere of the place. It was chill, relaxing. "There aren't any seats at the tables," I observed and turned to Axel, who was looking down at me as I looked up. For a brief moment I was caught in his eyes, bright green engulfed my vision and caused my heart to ache, then he looked away and it was over.

"Wanna sit at the bar?" He asked as I was regaining my breath and rubbing the area on my chest above my heart, "Ya alright?"

I could feel my face flush and I nodded, "Yeah." I forced a smile up at him, silently cursing the fact that he was a good four inches taller than me, "And sitting at the bar sounds good."

We sat and the duo finished singing, everyone in the place began to clap loudly and cheer wildly.

"Thank you," the girl said, English accent evident, "Remember that I'm Olette and this is my partner Pence, and we'd like you all to know that this is open mic night. If you feel the urge to come up here and sing then you're more than welcome to." She gave us all a sweet, encouraging, smile.

A part of me wanted to go up there, but singing in public was a huge fear of mine, and I knew that I'd piss my pants if I were to do it.

We hopped onto the black bar stools, Axel ordered a ginger ale and I asked for a water. Olette's voice singing If I Fell washed over us, and made everyone mellow.

"She has a beautiful voice," Axel commented into his drink, but I knew that he was aiming it towards me.

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, she does."

He mouthed a few of the lyrics before asking, "Can you sing Roxas?"

_Rahk-sas_, the way he said my name made a shiver go throughout my body, "Um, yeah, a little." A flashback of Sora forcing me to do karaoke in high school just to listen to me sing, our friends' awe-ing and ooo-ing about it; my hating every moment of it and cursing them for teasing me.

"Its open mic night, you should go up there," Axel smiled.

"Um, I'd rather not. Thanks," I told him while squeezing my lemon slice into my water.

"Hmmm," he ran a large hand through his mane of scarlet, pushing it out of his face only for it to fall back when he was done. "How 'bout this, I'll go sing a song and then ya'll go sing a song."

I arched an eyebrow at him, "Can _you_ sing?"

He grinned, "We'll find out when I go up there." He got off of his stool and began to saunter towards the stage.

"Wait a sec! I never said I'd do it!" I hissed after him, but he waved me off and was already speaking to Olette.

"How ya'll doin' tonight?" Axel asked, his voice sounding sensual and an octave lower, "I'mma sing I Walk the Line. I'm sure ya'll know this Johnny Cash classic." He turned and nodded to Pence who began to play on his keyboard. Axel smiled at the crowd, opened his mouth, and the country song poured out as smooth as silk.

He had the perfect voice for country, and did the song justice in his own way. When Axel was done he talked to Olette and hopped off the stage to people clapping as loud as thunder. A few girls called out to him, asking his name, but he ignored it all and made a beeline towards me.

"I never agreed to it," I said before he even opened his mouth.

Axel gave me a sly look, smile still on his face, "Ya want me ta buy you a drink before ya go up?" He questioned, totally disregarding what I had just told him. We stared at each other, but since his eyes caused me to drown I looked away first. _Damn it_.

"I'd leave, but I can't leave without you," I glared down at my glass of melting ice.

"Awe, that's sweet," He grinned knowingly.

"No." I sighed, "I can't leave because I've no clue where the hell we are." I downed the rest of my water and slammed the glass down, heading towards the stage. I'm not sure why I was letting him bully me into doing this.

Olette smiled at me as I climbed onto the low stage, "I'd like to sing Somebody to Love please," I said to her, raw, cold, nerves were bundled up in the pit of my stomach.

"That's a good song," Olette stated, "I'll be here as backup, in case you get too nervous, okay?" She has such a calm air about her that I couldn't help but relax as I stepped onto the stage.

The lights were bright and hurt my eyes, but I couldn't see the crowd through them. I could barely make out Axel in the back of the place. Pence started the beat and I went right into it, taking my own approach to the song. For the chorus Olette's voice joined me and we exchanged smiles, it felt good, and after a while I forgot there was even a crowd in front of me.

When the song was done there was a loud applause and I laughed, running a hand through my hair sheepishly. Embarrassment flooded throughout my being, "T-thank you." I managed to stutter before hoping off of the stage, waving good-bye to Olette and Pence.

Axel was giving me a look of pure awe, "Wow. You're voice was…is…wow."

I blushed and shrugged helplessly.

"Axel?" A blond man with an English accent asked from one of the barstools, "'Oly shit it is you! 'Ow've you been mate?"

Axel looked at the man, "Luxord, haven't seen ya in a while. I've been livin', right now just hangin' out with my buddy Roxas. How 'bout you?"

The man, Luxord, has dirty blond hair which was kept shortly styled, a goatee adorened the lower half of his face, and he had stud earrings in both ears. He shrugged, "Just knocking back a few before heading to Saïx's party. You should come with, there'll be free food, and I'm sure that Saïx would love to meet your new friend, he's missed you. You know we haven't seen you since yours and Larxene's awful break up."

The redhead blew off the end of Luxord's sentence and looked at me, "Ya wanna check out the party?"

_The reason why we're here was to escape a party_, I had wanted to say, instead I shrugged, "Sure. It's whatever man."

* * *

The apartment that Luxord had led us to was in a chicer part of the city, on the seventh floor. The place was huge in comparison to Demyx's apartment, and was packed with more people then was at Wakka's party. Psychedelic rock poured from all directions to the point where the sound was suffocating me, as did the smoke that filled the air. Axel kept a firm hold on me as we stepped into the place. I could feel myself getting light headed just by breathing.

"There's Saïx," Luxord nodded ahead, smoothing his goatee and meandering towards the kitchen. "Go say 'ello!" He called out behind him as he was seemingly swallowed whole by the crowd.

Axel leaned in close, his mouth ghosting over the shell of my ear, "Stay close ta me Rox." His hot breath skimmed over me and I shivered a nod.

Saïx turned out to be a 6'2" buff guy with a huge X-shaped scar across the bridge of his nose and long blue hair. He also was a cross dresser, a very bad one. With his heels on he stood at almost 6'8" and towered over everyone else in the room. It made him very distinguishable and intimidating all at the same time, despite the fact that he was wearing a black sequined dress.

"Axel!" Saïxs' voice was like thunder, loud and booming. He looked truly happy to see my redheaded companion, and then he spotted me, "And who's this?" He arched an eyebrow up slyly.

Axel gave me a reassuring grin as we approached Saïx, who scared the hell out of me. Maybe it was because he was over a foot taller than me, or the fact that such a scary looking guy looked even scarier in drag that he should have.

"Howdy Saïx, you're lookin' mighty fine this evenin'. This here's Roxas, my companion for the night."

"Hello," I greeted with a weak smile.

Saïx grinned at us, his eyes were dilated so that all one could see was black, no color, "He's a cutie Ax, way better looking than that bitch Larx. Have you had some of the food?"

"Not yet, but we'll make our way over ta the kitchen ta get some." Axel grabbed my hand, dragging me to where the food supposedly was.

"He seemed nice," I muttered, and it wasn't necessarily a lie because he did seem nice.

"That's because he's high as a fuckin' kite right now," Axel muttered back.

We headed towards the kitchen, Axel opened one of the drawers, not that anyone else noticed. A moment later he took out a large permanent marker. "I'm ready ta leave," He said to me.

I began to laugh, finding everything funny, but I nodded. "I think I'm getting a buzz man."

"How'd you gent's like to play a rousing game of poker?" Luxord asked, appearing out of nowhere. I laughed even harder and he arched an eyebrow at me. "You didn't eat any of the brownies did you?"

"No," I grinned, leaning against Axel.

He cursed under his breath and gave Luxord a sharp look, "We're leavin' now. Ya'll have a good night." And then I was dragged out of the apartment, and we were gone just as quickly as we arrived.

"I think you're sufferin' from a contact high," Axel sighed as soon as we were back out onto the street.

"You stole a marker," I hummed, doing a little wiggle of a dance, "I'm hungry." I told him in a sing-song voice, a large grin on my face. Life was just amusing.

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Come on, there's a 24 hour bodega that's open right at the street corner." He took my hand and led the way.

I stared at his hair, noticing how long and how red it was. It was the color of crimson, the color of my mom's favorite nail polish. I always stared at her hands whenever she put it on, it was eye-catching. Axel was eye-catching. I barely knew him but I wanted to, I wanted to know him very badly.

He bought me some Little Debbie's snacks and we sat outside at the bus stop in front of the place to eat. After twenty minutes I was back to normal and full of sweets.

"Dude, you hung out with people like that often?" I asked; frown on my face as I looked over at him. He did look a bit like scenestar.

Axel took out his thick, black, sharpie and began to write on the plastic wall of the bus stop, "I used ta, back when I was datin' Larxene, she was really into that shit." He leaned back and looked at his graffiti.

**AXEL & ROXAS WERE HERE**

His handwriting was loopy and large, different than I expected.

"That's pretty lame," I stated, pointing to what he wrote, "you should add something to that." I wanted to ask about Larxene and how his life was with her and why it seemed to be a big deal that there was a post-Larxene life that he was apparently living.

Axel frowned at me and looked back at what he had written to the now vandalize a piece of public property before adding on to it.

**IT WAS THE BEST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES.**

"It was?" I asked while standing and throwing my wrappers away in the nearby trash bin.

"The night's young Rox, I guarantee you that this'll be the best night of your life." He answered, standing as well and shoving the marker down his front pocket. It looked awkward there, and I laughed as I told him so.

"I'll hold you to that by the way," I smiled warmly up at him as we headed down the block, back to his car.

* * *

**TBC**

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**MLL**: What Axel says in Portuguese was supposed to be "Yes, for the most part. I think you are good looking too." THANK YOU MOCHI FOR THE TRANSLATION!

So the link to the soundtrack to this fic is up on my profile.

Please review, they really do keep me alive!


	3. Loose Lips

Title: **Young Dudes**

Genre: Romance/ General

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I no own

Summary: AU. - Axel stopped and I, not paying attention, ran into his back, getting a whiff of his hair as I scrambled away from him. Cherries, which was queer to me since I had expected something more masculine; like Axe body wash or just soap.

Main Akuroku. Background Soriku. All characters will be a bit OOC.

* * *

"Blah" means talking

"**Blah**" means phone conversations

* * *

**III. _Loose Lips _**_- _Kimya Dawson

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We drove around for what felt like forever, it amazed me just how many people were still out and about.

"So what do ya do fer a livin'?" Axel asked as he made a random right turn; I couldn't help but think of all the gas that he was wasting, but I didn't say a word about it.

"I work for customer service slash tech support in Shin-Ra, but I'm still in school so it's hopefully a temporary thing." I shrugged, curling up in the passenger's seat and holding onto my seatbelt while watching him drive rather than watching the lights pass us by.

"Hopefully?" He echoed with a laugh, "I take it ya don' like your job?"

"Hardly," I sighed, "It's not where I see myself spending the next thirty years working at, that's for sure. What about you? What do you do?"

He glanced over at me for a second before shrugging, "I work for my dad. But on the weekends I'm an artist." He grinned.

"Like, a painter?" I asked curiously, adding more to my list of things that were interesting about Axel.

"Sometimes… I like photography though. Black and whites and sepia's," He nodded to himself; his red hair went every which way yet still managed to fall down to his shoulder blades.

The car stopped at a red and Axel nodded to a building across the street, "Ya wanna see a movie?"

I looked over at the brightly lit theatre, "I don't really want to pay twelve dollars for a movie." I answered uneasily, not wanting to disappoint him in case he did want to see one.

Axel chuckled, "We can find a way aroun' that Rox."

He drove around the block for parking and got out of the car, forcing me to follow.

"What do you mean a way around it? I'm not sneaking into a theatre," I looked up at him with a frown, and he beamed down at me. His grin caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

"Fine, you can wait out here and I'll go inside and enjoy a free movie." His greens eyes were reflecting all of the light around us, making giving them have an ethereal glow. Axel then strode forward, long legs taking lazy steps, not stopping even though I had paused on the sidewalk to glare at him.

I watched him walk around the building until he was at an alleyway exit and he turned to look at me, "Ya gonna wait out here or are ya comin' in with me?"

I huffed, annoyed at being peer pressured, and reluctantly followed. My heart was going a mile a minute, I'd never snuck into a movie before and it was both exhilarating and frightening at the same time. If we were caught then the chances were most likely we'd never be able to come to this theatre again.

He expertly picked the lock to the door and walked in, holding it open for me and letting it shut gently behind us.

"I can't believe we're doing this," I groaned, running both hands through my hair. "We're gonna get caught and then we'll be arrested and I'll be a failure at life who won't even be hired at McDucks. Then I'll have to kill myself to end the shame and misery."

"Woooow," Axel whistled lowly, "ya need ta simmer down Rox."

"You just picked a fucking lock. What if there's an alarm on that door? Or what if there're security cameras everywhere that know we're here?" I knew I was freaking out and internally told myself to calm down. Maybe I was still buzzed on a high, which would be rational considering the paranoia that I was feeling.

Axel chuckled and shook his head, "Relax Roxas. First off that was an exit, so jus' 'cause it was locked on the outside don't mean that we can't use it, that's why there were no alarms. And there ain't no damn cameras, I don't know what's wrong with you but ya gotta chill; act natural."

_Double negative_! I chided mentally.

"'Ain't' isn't a word," I grumbled.

"Yet you just said it," He teased, but I refused to rise to the bait.

Instead I followed Axel through the corridor of the theatre. It was like any other cinema, with red carpet and slightly dimmed lights, posters of movies and cardboard cutouts every which way. I kept jumping every time a random customer would walk past us, I kept thinking that it would be someone who worked there and knew that we didn't pay to go in. Could a person even go to prison for sneaking into a movie?

Axel stopped and I, not paying attention, ran into his back, getting a whiff of his hair as I scrambled away from him. Cherries, which was queer to me since I had expected something more masculine; like Axe body wash or just soap.

"This movie looks like one we can see," Axel said, ignoring the fact that I had slammed into him.

I glanced up at what movie it was, "A romantic comedy?"

"They're my favorite," He grinned cheekily and dragged me in.

The movie was about a thirty-something year old woman who bitched almost the entire time about not being able to find a man because most men were unreliable and all that stuff until she met this guy who taught her what men wanted. Everything about the film reeked of total crap.

Twenty horrible minutes later I finally managed to drag Axel back out. "I'm going to burn my eyes out with battery acid because of the shitty acting. Watching the grass grow would've been more entertaining and less torturous. At least the grass understands when it's their scene and cue."

The redhead laughed, "It wasn't _that_ bad." Yet even as he said this he looked just as relieved as I felt to be out of there. No more romantic comedies for a long time for him, this one made him learn his lesson on how God awful they could be.

I could only fix him a dull stare which made him fidget, "I'd imagine passing a kidney stone would've been less painful." I then shivered at the mere mention of a kidney stone, the very thought was too painful to me to even comprehend the exact analogy I had just used.

"Mmm, speaking of which, you're makin' me hungreh. Let's go to the concession stand," He led the way and I watched him with a look of disbelief, a slight sick feeling washing up my stomach. _Ew, kidney stones_.

"Dude, I mention kidney stone and you think food?" I looked at the movie posters that we were passing idly. Would the concession stand even be open at 2-something in the morning?

"Sometin' like that," He glanced down at me and I avoided his eyes.

The concession stand was still surprisingly open when the two of us got there. Of course there was a drunken guy trying to buy more beer from a harassed looking kid who was behind the register gently refusing the guy. Not that I blamed the kid, the guy's pores were just freely letting out the smell of booze and anyone in a ten foot radius could smell it.

The kid gave Axel and me a pleading look for help as we approached, which caught the drunkards attention.

"What're you two fags looking at?" He slurred, face red and veins in his neck popping out.

I wrinkled my nose at him, more than willing to ignore him, and ask the kid for some roasted almonds. Axel, on the other hand, went rigid at the derogatory word that the man had aimed at us, although he followed my lead and tried to ignore the man as well.

But then the man got really closed and pushed me, shoved me hard enough that I hit the concession stand's counter and most likely bruised my hip. I bit my bottom lip and put a hand to my side.

"God damn it," I gritted through my teeth, hissing uncomfortably. That had hurt like a bitch.

The kid behind the register let out a loud half-yell at the man, "I'm calling security!" he finally managed to say, picking up the phone that was at the end of the counter.

"Pssh, little fairy ain't gonna hit me back? Faggot." The drunkard taunted me and I glared up at him, but it was Axel who did something; punching the guy square in the face. He fell like a ton of bricks to the floor with a _thunk_ that echoed throughout the snack area. In all honesty just the way he fell looked painful, I could only imagine how hard Axel had hit him.

"Ow," Axel rubbed his knuckles, "Ya alright Roxas?" He looked down at me, concern just washed off of him in waves.

"Yeah, it's just going to leave a bruise is all," I answered, hand still on my hip and embarrassment flooded throughout me. I could've handled that, he didn't need to emasculate me like that; it didn't matter if it was only in front of the damn concession stand kid. I could've fought had I wanted to.

"You guys better go before the security manages to mosey over here, he's gonna ask tons of questions and I know you two snuck in," The kid behind the register said, handing me my roasted almonds and ushering us out.

Without being told twice my companion grabbed me by the wrist and dragged us the way we came.

"Dude, you punched that guys' lights out!" I looked at him with a mixture of irritation and amazement; I had never in my life hit another person with the intention of harming them. Ever. That was why I was so hesitant to fight the drunkard, or to act out any form of retaliation. Yet this tall bottled redhead did it with no remorse, even though his knuckles were going to be most likely very bruised and sore in the morning.

"He was an asshole," Was Axel's response, leading the way to the car. I followed behind him, rubbing my sore hip and frowning.

"You do realize that if he hadn't gone down then you would've gotten in a stupid fist fight with a drunk." I pointed out with a frown.

He shrugged, "Ya gonna nag at me 'bout it? 'Cause if ya are then I can always drop ya back off at Wakka's."

Somehow I had a feeling that that threat was an empty one, but I immediately shut up about it. Grudgingly, I got into the car and clicked my seatbelt on.

He started the car but we didn't move right away, instead Axel turned to me and said a quiet, "I'm sorry."

I gave him a little shrug, "Nah, I'm the one who should be sorry. You were only doing what you thought was right. And that guy _was_ an asshole."

Axel grinned at me and ruffled my hair, which didn't annoy me as much as it should have; I dodged under his hand more for show then intention. "Thanks for understandin'." He put the car on drive and we were off again.

Honestly though, I didn't really understand.

"Aren't you worried about all the gas that you're wasting driving all over the city like this?" I asked him while eyeing the fuel.

Axel shrugged, "Ya offerin' to fill 'er up?"

"Yeah, if you'd like," I answered honestly, it'd be only fair since he was driving everywhere tonight. Although he was the one choosing all of our destinations and I was really only along to enjoy the ride and have, allegedly, the best night of my life according to Axel.

"Shit, you're really offerin'? Don't worry none about it Rox, I got it all under control. Just sit back and enjoy the night drive," He grinned at me, it made him look sort of like a clown with his tattoos. I told him just that which he responded with: "Careful what ya say Rox, I might be a serial killer rapist or somethin', 'member?"

I snorted a laugh, "Well, if you are, just keep your promise of the best night of my life before you kill me."

"I think I can manage that," he replied.

We drove in silence after that, hearing the wind fly by the car windows as we went on until we met the city limits.

YOU ARE NOW LEAVING— was the sign that had really caught my eye.

"Holy shit, you really are going to sodomize me and then kill me and leave my cold body in a ditch somewhere at the outskirts of the city aren't you?" I asked, slightly panicked by the fact that there was nothing but woods and forest on either side of us.

Axel let out a bark of laughter, "I think that contact high fucked with yer brain Rox, you're a funny guy," he shook his head, "Nah man, we're gonna head over ta the next town; see how their late nights-cum-early mornin's are 'round there."

The woods were blurs of dark gray shadows in the inky night with the heavy moon above us and the star constellations shone brightly as well. With all the light pollution in the city, the stars were a difficult thing to see on most nights.

"Why?" I asked him a bit distractedly.

"Because Rox, where's your sense of adventure?" He concentrated on the road some more.

"Must've left it in my other flesh suit," I said easily, watching the dark scenery go by.

The town over was small, and it wasn't all that far from what I remembered, maybe twenty minutes if one were going as fast as Axel.

"Hitchhiker!" Axel said excitedly, stopping the car a few hundred feet after he spotted the man and then reversing.

"Dude, he could be a serial killer or crazy person," I hissed to Axel, but as it was his car it was his rules. I knew I was going to die tonight.

The backdoor opened and the guy slid in but I was too busy trying to remember moves of self defense to look at him.

"Ya headed toward the town over?" Axel asked him conversationally, putting the car back on drive.

"Yeah, thanks for stopping, I've been walking for a while," the voice was too familiar for me to not turn around.

Lo and behold, one of my best friends back in high school sat in the backseat, hair still a spiked dirty blond, eyes still brown. He looked tired and a bit worn around the edges, but I guess that was just life taking its toll.

"Hayner, what the fuck are you doing out here at two in the morning?" I demanded.

He seemed to jump at the sound of his name and stared at me with large eyes before letting out a small laugh. "Holy crapola, its Roxas. I'm just trying to get home since my mom wanted me home early tonight, but my ride ditched me so I had to hoof it. Dude, what're _you_ doing out here?"

I held his gaze for a few intense seconds before shrugging, "We're just going for a night drive."

He gave me a weak, yet honest, smile, "No shit? Interesting, never pegged you as the night drive type of guy."

"I always pegged you as the crazed murdering hitchhiker though," Was my response. Hayner just let out another short laugh and I could feel Axel's gaze on me. It was going to be one long drive.

The small town over wasn't exactly what one would call a town; it had all the necessities to survive on its own if there was ever a need for it, but almost everyone commuted and worked or went to school in the city.

"This place looks nice and quaint," Axel commented, listening to Hayner's directions on how to get to his house.

"Looks can be deceiving, there are races all the time around here, usually the cops get there and break it up before the kids start anything though," Hayner shrugged from the backseat.

"Kids?" I echoed, looking back out the hitchhiker.

"Yeah, you know, people our age," My old friend shrugged, rubbing his eyes and stifling a yawn. "The house coming up is mine."

Axel stopped the car in front of the cottage looking house, I hadn't been to Hayner's house in years but it still looked the same. A hint of nostalgia crept through me and I sighed while allowing it. Why didn't Hayner and I talk anymore?

"T'was nice meetin' ya," Axel told the other, and Hayner grinned.

"The pleasure was all mine man, thanks a million for driving me." He took a twenty out of his back pocket and forced Axel to take it, "For the gas. See you around Roxas."

"Bye Hayner," I said, yet as he got out of the car it felt so final, like that was the closure of our friendship and childhood together. We'd more than likely never talk to each other again.

"Ya'll used to be good friends, huh?" Axel asked gently.

I sighed softly, "Yeah, we were."

We drove around until we found a car that looked like it was going to the races, along with three other cars following it. Axel grinned over at him and joined the group.

"You're going to race this car? One that isn't even tricked out?" I asked, shifting around as Axel added to the pile of money that everyone was putting into. I didn't want to tell him that I thought his car was a piece of crap; it wasn't really my place to judge.

"Don't worry Roxas, I'll win," He gave me a cocky grin.

It almost had me melting into a puddle at his feet; instead I crossed my arms over my chest, "Dude, what if you die? Like, what if your car flips over or something?"

He gave me a soft smile, running one of his hands through my hair. "Ya worry too much Roxas."

I sighed and watched him go back to his car while I stood at the sidelines with everyone else watching the race. There were cars everywhere and people milling around and music blasting from different cars at different areas. People looked like they were here more to chill and show off their cars rather than race.

"Hey, Vaan, Axel's back!" A girl with blond hair in two short, braided, pigtails went running up to a guy who was next to a tricked out Honda.

"No shit?" Vaan grinned, "He here for a rematch? I'm in."

The girl with the braids looked over at me and smiled, "You're new here, right? I saw you get out of Axel's car, what's your name? I'm Penelo."

"I'm Roxas, and yeah, I came here with Axel," I returned her smile with a smaller one.

"Hey, if the cops come to bust them up then I'll take you to our other rendezvous spot, Axel knows about it," Penelo nodded to herself.

Vaan and Axel lined their cars up, both revving their engines, a dark haired guy stood between the cars with his arms up, counting down when the race was going to begin. Excitement buzzed throughout my veins as they both peeled out.

"How long do races usually last?" I asked Penelo.

She gave me a half shrug, "It really all depends. They should be back in a few minutes though. Would you like something to drink, I'm pretty sure there's a cooler around here somewhere."

I shook my head and just looked up at the moon. It was a pretty night.

"They're coming back!" A girl yelled from somewhere in the crowd. People began to holler, whistle, and cheer for the car that they wanted to be the winner.

Vaan came in first with Axel as a close second. Both were laughing as they got out of their respective cars.

"Man, that was good, you've gotten better Ax," Vaan grinned, taking the money that was placed down between the racers. There had been two others racing as well and they had already parked and joined their friends.

I had meandered back over to Axel with Penelo. The conversation was about cars, which was cool even though I wasn't really into cars. I knew the basics on how to fix one and stuff, but tricking out a car wasn't something I wanted to learn.

It had been getting pretty interesting though until a guy somewhere among all of the people started screaming at the top of his longs.

"FIVE-OH! FIVE-OH!"

Suddenly everyone was scrambling to get out of there.

I was part of that group until Axel grabbed my hand and calmly led me to his car where I hopped back into it and clicked my seatbelt with shaking hands. "Go! I don't want to get arrested or any of that shit. Fuck!" I held my head in my hand as Axel began to floor it, and here I had thought that sneaking into a movie was bad.

"You won't get arrested, ya'll just get a ticket at worse, I'll be the one arrested an' my car taken." He growled, taking a back road away from the main group.

I turned to see through the back window, noticing how the cops had barricaded escape routes and only a few cars were following us.

"Holy shit man," I sat back down properly, "Let's get out of this town."

Axel laughed, "No need ta tell me twice."

I laughed too, relief pumping through my veins as we drove back home in peace.

* * *

**TBC**

**

* * *

**

Soundtrack:

Theme: All the Young Dudes  
1: A Well Respected Man  
2: A Dustland Fairytale  
Insert: Hide & Seek  
Insert: If I Fell  
Insert: I Walk the Line  
Insert: Somebody to Love  
3: Loose Lips  
Axel's Theme: What I Got  
4: Hysteria  
Roxas's Theme: Give Me Novacaine  
5: Strawberry Swing

Can be found here (don't forget to take the spaces away): http :/ www. playlist. com/ playlist/ 20791623691/ stand alone

OR can be found on My Profile.

* * *

**MLL**: Chapter 3 was pretty rushed. But I still enjoyed it. I hope you did as well :D Please review! They keep me alive and kicking.


	4. Hysteria

Title: **Young Dudes**

Genre: Romance/ General

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I no own

Summary: AU. - I gulped as I felt his fingers slowly going up my shirt. I turned my head to look up at him, only to have his mouth descend upon mine in a fierce kiss.

Main Akuroku. Background Soriku. All characters will be a bit OOC.

* * *

"Blah" means talking

"**Blah**" means phone conversations

* * *

**IV. Hysteria** – _Muse_

* * *

The moon hung heavy, creeping over the passing woods with an eerie darkness, bathing everything in an off-gray light. The city lights were a few dozen miles ahead of us, but I didn't really care to go back. With the windows down and the summer heat flying through me, I felt like I was flying. Axel looked strangely demonic in the drivers' seat, an oldies song playing on low through the speakers; it was just a background noise more than anything else.

We hadn't spoken since we left the neighboring town. I was too busy getting down from my adrenaline rush and Axel seemed to be thinking about something. These last few hours have been jam-packed with so much different crap that it felt like an eternity ago when I was at work saying goodbye to my coworker rather than that just happening earlier today.

Axel suddenly pulled over to the shoulder of the highway. Frowning at me and getting out of the car.

"Dude, what gives?" I asked, unbuckling my seatbelt and crawling so that I could look out of the drivers' side window.

"C'mon, we're gonna look at the stars," Axel stated, opening the trunk and grabbing a blanket out to put on the dirt covered ground.

I looked up at the star littered sky before glancing to the foreboding woods. There were probably all sorts of wild animals in there that were up and about just waiting for prey. I then shook those thoughts out of my head, they were just stupid.

Sighing, I drew myself back to my seat and hopped out of the car, walking to where Axel was spread himself across the blanket. "Scoot over man," I nudged him with a foot and he rolled to his side, grinning up at me.

"Ya gonna lie down with me?" He asked suggestively, I could feel my face burn and heat up at his tone, and I could do little else than scoff at him.

"I'd like to look at the stars, thanks." I stated, plopping down next to him. We were both silent as we looked up at the infinite sky; with the exception of the occasional airplane it was a beautiful sight, especially since we were out of the city, so there was no light pollution to cloud it up. "We take sights like these for granted, hm?" I asked Axel, looking up at the white face of the moon.

"Yeah," He replied, I could feel the vibration of his voice from my spot next to him, and the realized just how close we were laying next to each other. I turned my head and realized he was watching me. It reminded me of that cliché romance movie that we had caught a glimpse of earlier.

"Hey," He smiled serenely at me.

My insides were a quivering mess, butterflies fluttered throughout me and my nerves were on fire. I licked my lips to moisten them, managing a shaky smile back. "Hey yourself."

I forced my eyes to move away from his. Did we just have a moment? It felt as if we did. I then felt Axel grip my hand, intertwining our fingers, my face heated up again as I continued to look up at the sky, fingers curling around his knuckles.

"Ya know any constellations?" He asked in a quiet murmur. It felt nice out tonight; it didn't matter to me that we were on an old blanket on the lumpy ground with our hands touching in a way that boys supposedly shouldn't allow with other boys.

"Yeah," I pointed towards a row of stars. "That's Orion's Belt. Over there is the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and that's all I know. Do you know any?"

He did what I had done, pointing up at the sky, "That's Gemini, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Orion's Belt, and that right there is Sirius." I listened to his voice, relishing in his words, the way he said thur instead of there, and how they all just dripped from his mouth so smoothly.

"Tell me about yourself?" I asked, staring up at Sirius.

"What d'ya want ta know?"

"Everything."

To this Axel chuckled. "Alright. My name's Axel, it's a pleasure ta meet ya. I'm the youngest outta three. My older sister's name's Ariel, she's married ta a nice guy, and I've got me a niece named Melody from her. My brother's name is Reno, and works for Shinra just like you. Only he does different work. I grew up in New Mexico, near Texas, lived with my Ma while my Dad was off making somethin' of himself.

"My favorite color's blue. My favorite food is brigadeiros. I'm fond of the number eight. I love takin' photos and am sorely upset at myself fer not brinin' my camera out with me tanight. Let's see, what else can I tell ya? I'm a Leo, so I have pyromaniac tendencies sometimes, and since we were talkin' 'bout stars, my favorite one is the sun.

"I work for my Dad, and for the most part am an all around good boy who never get's into no trouble whatsoever. What 'bout you Rox?"

I took in his information. He told me a bit, but he didn't tell me really anything about him, only things that I could've found out through Demyx or Zexion. Nothing meaty or important. I closed my eyes and thought, what did he want to know about me exactly?

When I opened my eyes again I felt Axel's gaze on me.

"You already know that I'm Roxas, I'm the oldest of two, my sister's name is Garnet and she's a high school kid. I work for Shinra as part of customer service, grew up here and still live with my parents since I can't afford otherwise.

"My favorite color's green. My favorite food is peanut butter. I like the number thirteen, but eight's okay too. I enjoy quiet things, like reading, which I think is honestly a dying art. Um…I'm a Capricorn, but I have some Sagittarius traits due to being born right there in-between them. And I love the sun."

Silence again between us, from somewhere in the woods an owl hooted and other creatures made night noises. It wasn't as eerie anymore though, more relaxing than before, although I still half expected for there to be some kind of serial ax murder to come out and chop us into bits.

"Do you think that information is enough to know someone by?" I asked him after hearing another owl respond to the first one.

"Nah, but it's a start."

My phone began to buzz in my pocket, causing me to jump and arch up a bit to get it out of my front pocket. I tried to ignore the fact that Axel's eyes were on my form the entire time. I could only guess what he expected by the end of the night, not to say that I'd be totally against it.

There was a new text in my message box.

From: Sora

**Where the fk are you!**

I frowned at the message for a moment, it would make sense that he'd be freaking out at my sudden disappearance. I honestly hadn't wanted to go out, so Sora would probably take all the blame if I don't get home before he visits in the morning. Because I knew my cousin well enough to know he'd stop by my house and beat the crap out of me for scaring him like this.

**I'm fine**, I replied, **idk when I'll be home tho.**

"Who're ya textin'?" Axel asked lazily. His eyes were closed and his free hand was underneath his head, acting as a half-assed cushion.

Pressing the send button, I sat up, not bothering to let go of Axel's hand. "My cousin. We should at least get going back to the city before he calls the cops and files a missing persons report."

Snickering, the tall redhead stood and pulled me up with him. He let go of me a moment later. Our linked hands were finally broken and I felt cold and lonely as I watched him fold up the blanket and throw it back into his trunk.

My phone buzzed again.

From: Sora

**Who're you with?**

I rolled my eyes. **Still with Axel**, I typed, **I thought I told you to leave me alone lol. I'll call you when I get home. l8r**.

* * *

We ended up back at the diner, Yuffie smiling tiredly at us as we entered the place. She looked how I felt. I was exhausted and ready to just hit the hay.

"Hey guys!" She greeted happily from behind the bar, it looked as if we had just missed the post-clubbing rush that must've hit this place every weekend. "How was your night so far?"

"Interesting," I stifled a yawn, hopping on one of the stools. Axel sat down next to me and gave me an amused look.

"Tired already?" He mused, ordering water with a lemon slice. I didn't want anything, it was nearing four in the morning and I was in no way hungry or thirsty. I was entering a level of sleepy that I had never entered before, and I was pretty sure that within the hour my brain was just going to shut my body down and I was going to pass out.

I put my head in my arms, which were folded on top of the counter. "I've been up since six this morning, so I'm exhausted," I refused to acknowledge my nap as any sort of real sleep.

Axel looked me over for a moment before getting off of the stool, placing some money on the counter even though water was free, "Ya wanna go to my place?"

I was suddenly very much awake and my heart was beating a mile a minute. A part of me doubted that he meant it in a sexual way, but another part of me hoped for that. I licked my dry lips and nodded, surprised with myself that I was able to answer so nonchalantly.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

Axel lived in the center of downtown, in one of those high rise condos which go up to almost twenty stories. The building had a brick face, there were iron rod double doors that led through a small hallway before entering glass double doors where there was a small lobby with a security desk and a guard watching the cameras to the left and two elevators to the right.

"Mornin' Pete!" The redhead grinned, nodding at the man. Pete, a large black security guard who looked pretty intimidating, waved back, not looking up from the cameras.

The elevator was an old fashioned type, the type that one saw in an old Hollywood film, with gold and chrome swirl designs on the double doors. Axel pressed the number 8 and up we went, classical music wafted through the air around us, making things even more awkward than before. Maybe I was just looking too much into this.

Zexion was waiting right outside of Axel's apartment door, looking defeated and depressed, as well as slightly drunk.

"The fuck are ya doin' here Zex?" Axel asked, not moving to unlock his door. I stood a little ways behind him, wondering the exact same thing.

"I need to stay here, I can't go home and face Dem," Zexion stated with a little slur, he looked like a mess. His hair, which was usually meticulously groomed, was sticking up at awkward angles, and his skin was flushed with a light sheen of sweat.

Axel sighed and shook his head, "Nah, ya can't stay here tanight Zex, ya'll gonna have ta go home."

"I think he might be a bit too drunk to get home by himself," I found myself saying before I could stop it. There was nothing more that I wanted to do aside from go into Axel's apartment and stay there for the rest of tonight and maybe even some of tomorrow. But Zexion did look like he needed help, and I, unfortunately, was not the type to turn my back on someone, even if he were just an acquaintance.

Axel looked at me with his acidic green eyes, giving me a once over before huffing a sigh, "Fine."

Somehow we managed to wrangled Zexion out of the building, taking the elevator back down to the street level and pushing the drunken guy into the car.

The drive back to Demyx's apartment wasn't a long one, in fact he lived closer to Axel then I had thought he did.

"He's going to hate me and never speak to me again." Something that I had learned about this night was that a drunk Zexion was an insecure one; and slightly annoying to boot.

"That's yer fault fer dickin' 'round," Axel snorted, turning onto the block that Zexion and Demyx lived on, stopping in front of their building.

"I'll help him out," I sighed, "Keep the car running?"

The redhead gave me an appreciative look which caused shivers to go up and down my spine, but then he nodded.

Zexion leaned on me heavily as we walked into his building. He grabbed his keys out of his pocket and handed them to me to open the door, obviously knowing when he was done. Demyx was still out on the couch where we had left him, curled up with a throw blanket over his form.

"I think I can manage from here," Zexion stated blurrily, rubbing his face with his hands. I gave him back his keys and he turned to look at me, "You know, I might be somewhat of a prick, but I do love him. I just don't know how to stop myself from hurting him."

"This is getting way too deep for me," I said, wanting to get out of the apartment and away from their problems. All I wanted was to hang out some more with Axel, and not worry about other things in life.

"Sorry." The man shrugged, looking at Demyx once more, "You can go now, I'll lock up and everything. Thanks for bringing me back here." He sighed.

"No problem, good luck with everything," I said over my shoulder before leaving for good that night, hopefully. One thing for sure was that I didn't envy how things were going to be when they faced each other later.

I got back to the car in record time, not wanting to even think about the drama that was about to unfold between the two men that we were leaving behind. "Are we still going back to your place?" I asked a bit breathlessly, having nearly ran to the car.

Axel nodded slowly, "If ya want ta." Somehow it seemed like he was purposely trying to seem cool and calm. He contradicted himself however when he sped all the way back to his condo. The second time through the lobby neither of us bothered to greet Pete and the elevator couldn't have gone fast enough.

The moment Axel managed to open his home's door I felt my nerves flutter and flare. I had never done this type of thing before, going home with someone I had just recently met. He turned on the lights and it felt as if I were at home.

When one enters Axel's place the foyer is a short hallway which opens up to a large living room where there were burgundy red colored sofas and huge 72" flat screen TV which was on a nice dark oak stand. The flooring was a natural oak, everything seemed very earthy, and the walls were a neutral beige color and random photos littering them in cherry oak frames.

Behind the living room was an open kitchen, the bar facing the back of the plush sofas. The appliances were all black, and the counters were of nice red granite, with the exception of the island that had a chop block top. What really caught my eye, however, was the farthest wall from the entryway; it was nothing but glass, showing off the night's skyline.

Everything was very chic, it was evident that Axel came from money, but the place didn't feel snobby upper class. And though it was comfortable, it didn't scream bachelor pad like Demyx and Zexion's place had either. It felt like a home should feel.

"Wow," I said, taking everything in, "This is a really nice place." I looked up at the redhead, only to be caught in his heated gaze. "Will you give me a tour?" I asked shyly.

"Sure," Axel nodded, leading passed the living room and into a hallway that was blocked off by the massive TV.

The first door to the left was a guest bathroom, done in earth tones and looking luxurious. The second door was what looked like an office slash guest room. The room at the end of the hallway was his bedroom. _Where all the magic is about to happen_, I thought nervously.

His bed was a California king sized one with a black headboard, black bureau, and a single black bedside table. There was no TV in his room, and I remember reading somewhere that couples without a TV in their bedroom had a better sex life.

This room also had a wall that was nothing but window, no curtains covering it.

"What do ya think?" Axel's voice came from behind me and I turned to face him, trying not to let it show that he had startled me. His breath hit the back of my neck and I shivered against him as his hands came around and rested on my hips.

"It's a really nice place," I said, my own voice low. I gulped as I felt his fingers slowly going up my shirt. I turned my head to look up at him, only to have his mouth descend upon mine in a fierce kiss.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

**MLL**: I've never actually talked to someone from Texas or New Mexico, so honestly I'm basing Axel's accent on movie stereotypes, no offense to anyone from there. This is the shortest chapter so far, and I'm really nervous about the lemon. Ugh, they _always_ make me nervous! Damn gay sex scenes.

I'm surprised that I was able to get this chapter up, I've been running on very little sleep and haven't been able to do much of anything other than work. It'd really appreciate it if you were to review, it'd make my week


	5. Strawberry Swing

Title:** Young Dudes**

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I no own

Summary: AU. As he began to drive I prayed that this night wouldn't be a waste of time. That something would come out of it, _at least a phone number_, I thought while giving Axel a side glance.- Main Akuroku. Background Soriku. All characters will be a bit OOC.

Unbeta'd. Beware the errors!

* * *

"Blah" means talking

"**Blah**" means phone conversations

* * *

**V. Strawberry Swing** – _Cold Play_

* * *

His mouth was hot, slick tongue pushing up against my own, and I couldn't hold in the small whimper which escaped my throat. It didn't matter that we barely knew each other, didn't matter because his hands left a fiery imprint wherever his fingers touched as they continued to creep up my shirt.

We breathed through our noses, and I could feel his shallow breaths against my cheek as our tongues rubbed and our teeth hit against each other. It was fierce and intoxicating.

Somehow Axel managed to get me onto his bed. I fell back onto my elbows and he leaned forward, our kiss broken as Axel managed to straddle me, his green eyes nearly black with lust.

"Quero-te," He murmured, voice a deep rumble, while nuzzling against my neck. I tilted my head to give him better access, my hands slipping underneath his shirt and tracing idle patters on his lower back. His skin was soft and warm; his scent was making me dizzy.

His hands moved up my back, taking my shirt along with it. I held a breath as he pulled away and removed the article of clothing tentatively. I was a shivering mess of nerves. I wasn't the most masculine of men, and I hated working out. My body was thin, no fat really, but no muscle either. I resisted the urge to cover myself under his dark gaze. Embarrassment was flooding through me, I hadn't had sex in a very long time and Axel was making me so nervous that I was worried I was going to be sick all over him.

"Stop hidin'," Axel chuckled darkly while leaning forward and began teasing my body with that sinful mouth of his. I couldn't stop any moan that began escaping me, my hands running over his bare shoulders and through his surprisingly soft hair.

He got up from what he was doing, and I let out a moan of protest. My eyes zeroed in on his nude body as he reached over to the nightstand to pull out lube and condoms. The nervous butterflies were back with a vengeance.

"How do you want this?" Axel asked, voice low and body tensing as he stared down at me. He seemed a little apprehensive, probably because we both knew this was going to hurt me. Especially since it's been over a year since I've last had sex.

"I—What's easiest?"

He thought a moment, eyes roaming up and down my body before he spoke again, "Get on your knees and bend over."

I did was I was told, my face burning as I burrowed it into one of his pillows. I tensed as I felt one slick finger circle around my entrance.

"Relax Rox," Axel murmured from behind me.

"I'm trying," I managed to say through my teeth, and eventually did relax as he began to land soft kisses down my spine. When he slipped a finger inside I tensed again, a surprised whimper escaping me, only to let out a slow, deep, breath as I relaxed again. His index finger wiggled around, and I could feel him trying to stretch me before eventually just pumping the single digit in and out.

One finger became two, became three, and the burning sensation of being stretched caused me to grind my teeth together while my hands clutched the sheets tightly. I knew it was going to get better, that it was only a matter of time, but it still hurt.

Axel kept his fingers pumping and curling, I knew what he was looking for, and I was grateful for his efforts.

"Quero fazer-te gritar," He mumbled as he finally found the spot he was looking for, and I let out a surprisingly loud moan, pushing back onto his fingers without meaning to.

"Axel," I whispered, biting my lower lip harshly as he took his hand away. I knew what was going next, I could hear him tearing open the condom wrapper, and nearly jumped at the feel of cold lube touching my entrance.

"Relax," Axel repeated while leaning forward to nuzzle the back of my neck. I was trying to relax, I really was.

It occurred to me how out of character this all was for me. I wasn't one comfortable with nudity, or one-night stands. Was this a one-nighter? I didn't even—

"_AH_!" I screamed out as he suddenly slid into me. It was unexpected, and I squeezed my eyes shut at the burning sensation. I knew this was going to happen, but God I wasn't really ready for it.

Axel paused was he was in all the way, his hands squeezing my hips reassuringly, "Ya alright?"

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, "Just give me a sec, okay?"

His hips were moving minutely, probably on their own accord, but Axel said, "Okay." Instead of moving he leaned forward to kiss my shoulder blades, spine, the nape of my neck, and wherever else he could reach. "Whenever you're ready."

Slowly, the pain that was in my lower back began to ebb away, and I melted into Axel's butterfly kisses. One of his hands stroked the skin of my inner thigh while the other held onto my hip, thumb rubbing soothing circles onto the small of my back.

I sighed lightly, enjoying the attention before moving slowly against his hips, "Please, it's okay now. Please, move."

He didn't need to be told twice, because he began to move against me. Thrusting deep, and hitting my prostrate every single time. I didn't realize that my moans had gradually gotten louder until I was screaming. I couldn't help it, he moved at an animalistic pace, and all of my nerve endings were on fire as white hot pleasure washed throughout me.

It felt like an eternity of pleasurable torture, and then Axel's large, rough, hand encircled me and stroked me in time with his movements.

"_Axel_," I whined, "_Oh God_."

His breathing was harsh behind me, and he practically growled in my ear, "_Vem-te para mim_."

My body did what it was told, despite being in a different language. I saw blinding white, it was as if I were looking up into the sun. I convulsed against his hand, hands clawing desperately at the sheets beneath us.

Once I was done Axel pulled out and helped me roll onto my back, moving my knees swiftly over his shoulders before continuing. And God help me, it was the most intense sex that I've ever had in my life.

"Fuuuuck," I sobbed, but he didn't stop. He didn't stop until both of us were too spent to move.

* * *

I woke up to a car horn honking loudly on the street below and the sunlight was hitting right down onto the bed.

"Ugh," I groaned, trying to roll over and getting at least five more minutes of sleep.

"Too late now ya know," A southern twang stated from the doorway, "I know yer up. C'mon, I made ya breakfast."

My stomach growled at that moment and I peeked over at Axel. He was dressed in comfortable looking jeans and a black t-shirt; his feet were adorned with striped socks.

I squinted at the sun, "Can't I just eat here?" I said, my voice still thick with sleep. I didn't even remember the time that we passed out; because I know that we sure didn't go to sleep willingly.

Axel smirked, "Nah. Ya have ta get up an' shower. I'm sure yer family's wonderin' where the hell ya are."

It felt as if a bucket of cold water were poured over me, and instantly I was awake. Axel was completely right. Sora was wondering where the hell I was, he was probably pissed at me.

"You're right," I nodded. It took a moment for me to stand properly, huffing as pain shot up my lower back. No, not pain, just some severe discomfort.

The redhead grinned at me as he sauntered over to help me.

We made our way towards the bathroom one cautious step at a time. And I couldn't help but chuckle with amusement as he followed in behind me.

The drive to my parents house was done in a comfortable silence, and I tried to wrap my mind around exactly what had happened the night before. It was a lot more than I had ever done in my life. It made me really evaluate myself in a new light, I had to really think about things when I got back into the safety of my bedroom.

* * *

"Make a left up here," I directed.

"Ya know, I wouldn't mind seein' ya again." Axel nearly mumbled, and it was warming at how this man. This man who sexed me up twice in the shower not an hour ago, could suddenly become so shy.

I felt a grin split my face in half, "Really?" I didn't want to sound too eager, but I liked him.

He nodded, staring straight ahead at the road. "I mean, if you'd like, I can give ya my number. I don't…I don't really do one night stands."

Quickly, I whipped my phone out. Pounding the numbers in as he said them. Who knows, maybe we could be something more? If anything, last night taught me that it was okay to take risks. I was young, I could afford to do it.

We made it to the house a few minutes later.

"So, I'll call you," I told him. His smoldering green eyes caused something inside me to stir.

With a smirk, he leaned forward, large hand cupping the back of my head as he pulled me into a sweet kiss.

* * *

"There you are Roxas!" Mom smiled at me as I entered the house a little after two. "How was your night?"

I rubbed my eyes and yawned, "It was good." I stated, trying to not just fall asleep on the spot. "I'm still really tired Ma, I'll be in my room." I told her while doing just that. As soon as my bed was in view I fell onto it and laid there staring up at my ceiling fan.

Grabbing my cell from my pocket, I lazily dialed Sora's number and waited for him to pick up.

"**Don't you ever pull shit like that again!**" Sora's voice was serious, which was something new for him. I could hear someone murmuring something in the background, it was probably Riku.

"You do realize that I can take care of myself. I'm a big boy; know how to tie my own shoes and everything." I replied, my eyes at half-mast. "But, you have my word that I'll never do that again. How was the party?"

"**I didn't get to really enjoy it since I didn't know where the hell you were.**" Sora took in a deep breath, "**Lulu showed up halfway through. Shit seriously hit the fan. It was pretty epic.**"

I chuckled, "I bet."

My cousin went silent for a moment before asking the inevitable question. "**How was your night**?"

The smile that spread my face could've been bright enough to light the entire city at night, "Yeah. It was an awesome night."

"**Details?**"

"Actually," I rolled around in my bed some more, "I'm gonna call it in early. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"**Yeah, I bet**," I could practically hear Sora roll his eyes, "**You'll tell me more later**." He sniffed.

I shook my head to myself; my cousin was like a dog with a bone. "Goodbye now Sora." I hung up immediately afterwards, falling asleep not a minute later.

* * *

Monday was the day that I had to have hated most. In a way I almost felt sorry for Monday, almost.

Xigbar was in his chair; doing exactly the same thing he was doing on Saturday. Eye patch firmly in place. He was an odd man.

"How was your drunken stoner sex?" He asked casually, playing around with his pencil.

I chose to ignore him, wanting to burn the amount of paperwork which seemed to have accumulate on my desk in less than forty-eight hours.

Paperwork. That's what my life had been reduced to. Usually I'd want nothing more than to jump out of the sixth story window and fall to my sweet death. Right now, however, I couldn't bring myself to do it. After all, I had a redhead to call later.

* * *

**FIN**

* * *

THANK YOU ANNA FOR THE CORRECT TRANSLATIONS

Quero-te: I want you

Quero fazer-te gritar: I want to make you scream

Vem-te para mim: Come for me

* * *

**MLL**: Ugh, I'm so embarrassed hahaha. Lemon's always do that to me. Anyways, that's it, that's the end of _Young Dudes_. A **HUGE** thank you to everyone who reviewed; and a thank you to everyone who read. I hope you enjoyed it!


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